New Directions

This blog needs to change direction I guess. I graduated from vet school this past spring and am now working at a 3.5 doctor practice in a moderately affluent neighborhood.

To sum up: I received my masters in public health in september of 2007 and my doctors of veterinary medicine in may of 2008. I took 3 weeks off and started full time at this small animal practice. Another new grad started with me at the same time, and the last full-time doctor has been practicing for about 15 years. The clinic owner has been in practice for about 10 years, and splits his time pretty evenly between the two practices that he owns.

Once the first 8 or 10 weeks had passed, I started seeing very few new things. I quickly became proficient at the everyday things: vaccinations, ear infections, acute and chronic vomiting and diarrhea, kidney disease, food allergies, etc. Even the things that I have come to think of as routine can be unique and interesting depending on the client and patient. Seeing these things frequently means that I have become more adept at diagnosing them and have perfected my "speil" that I give while explaining the diagnosis and treatment process it has also enabled me to better explain to clients the specific challences and difficulties that they may face while following through with the course of treatment.

But, as usual, it's the new and different things that keeps things fun and interesting for me. Last week I did two surgeries that I had never done before, both reproductive. The first was a pyometra (infected uterus) which has a story that almost deserves its own post. The second was a cryptorchid (retained testicle) cat. Both went off without a hitch, and I'm very proud of myself.

In the meantime, I'll try to keep my eye out for fun and interesting cases and post about them more often. Also, some housekeeping around the website to update some of the blogs that I follow.